


Lance's Role

by Thrudgelmir2333



Category: Saint Seiya, Saint Seiya - Saintia Shō, 聖闘士星矢: 冥王神話 | Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, 聖闘士星矢Ω | Saint Seiya Omega
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-02-13
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 10:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9381392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thrudgelmir2333/pseuds/Thrudgelmir2333
Summary: Recommended by TV Tropes, Lance's Role is a 'shonen' fic that sequels Next Dimension and Lost Canvas.In 1960, the Pope of Athena receives three prophecies from Hecate that irremediably set the course of his reign over Sanctuary's tragic history. Almost two decades later, a Saint of Pegasus finds himself put through the unfolding of a new age of violence caused by the Pope's actions.Please enjoy and review.





	1. 1A: The Discussion

**Notable OCs up until now that I own:** Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation;

 **Notable Original concept (until now):** Sanctuary Town;

 **Recurrent/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic:** Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

 **Recurrent/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic:** 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography

**Author notes:**

**-To new readers:**  The up-to-date publication of this story is available on Fanfiction.net

 

Please enjoy and review.

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**Sanctuary, Star Hill, early May of 1960…**

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It was the middle of the night and Shion, former Gold Saint of Aries and current Pope of Athena, was feeling agitated and with insomnia. The day had not been particularly difficult, but he just felt restless for some reason. He had left his chambers in the Pope's Temple and decided to go out for some fresh air. He contemplated a walk around Rodario or just gaze at the magnificence of Athena's statue, but ended up deciding to go to Star Hill for some night time _reading_.

As he stood before Star Hill's temple and gazed at the night sky, he found that the stars seemed to have little to say to him, if anything. Every now and then, he would go to this place to see if the future had anything reserved for him and his Saints. Exactly two hundred and nine years had passed since the Lost Canvas War, however, and the sky was yet to say anything interesting to the new Pope other than the birth of a more powerful Saint every now and then.

Reminded of the old conflict with Alone, Shion's eyes turned to the landscape of Sanctuary. In that high spot he could gaze upon almost all of Athena's holy hands and it didn't take even to his aged eyes very long to eventually spot the far off cemetery were Sisyphus's entire generation rested after the Lost Canvas War, one of the bloodiest battles in Sanctuary's history. If he squinted right, he could even make out some of the largest crosses and mausoleums there. It was in situations like these, when he was reminded of how long his friends were dead, that Shion realized how old he had become.

Oh how his body ache and his mind falter. After all, the Pope was but a shadow of its former glorious self. His hair had turned white and his face and body were marked with wrinkles and warts. To a Lemurian like him, who lived decades of youth and power well beyond the lifespan of any human, the inevitable fall into weakness and frailty he was now experiencing somehow felt even more devastating.

Still, he had been a good Pope. Sanctuary was safe and sound and despite the World Wars the human race was still in one piece. Yes, Shion could be proud of what he had accomplished as the one chosen by Athena to lead her Holy Land. No one could take that away from him. He took off his black mask, knowing that no one could be there in that sacred place to spy on him, and looked up at the starry sky. " _Athena, the time for your next reincarnation is not that far off, is it? Don't worry; Sanctuary is waiting for you safe and sound, just like I promised when you made me the new Pope._ " He thought to himself.

Shion was about to head back to the Golden Zodiac when the sudden sound of a wooden cane poking the floor along with weak steps was heard. Initially he thought it was the familiar sound of his equally aged friend Dohko walking around, but his warrior sense told him otherwise. "This is one of the most sacred places in all of Sanctuary, so I hope you know the consequences of trespassing it. Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Good evening, your Holiness. It's a pleasant, well lit night to be outside, isn't it? Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh!"

Shion's eyes widened when the unfamiliar voice was heard, his golden cosmos burned and he prepared himself to face the threat that had deceived so many of the Zodiac's defences, most likely an assassin. However, much to his surprise, the 'assassin' was but an old woman, walking towards him with a cane and covered by a black hooded cloak. Her face was extremely wrinkled, even deformed, with a long pointy nose and warts that gave her a very witch-like appearance that made Shion feel like he shouldn't complain about his own age.

Shion raised his guard but remained calm. Though the ease of her infiltration alarmed him, he wouldn't let that get the best of him. "How did you get here undetected by my Saints?"

The woman chuckled. "I am Hecate, Witch of the Moon, and there are few places I cannot move into." she announced, bowing as much as her pained, hunchbacked body could, while the clouds seemed to clear away from the full moon to bring magical poetry to her introduction. She saw the Pope's eyes grow fierce with this revelation. "Don't worry, your Holiness. Despite me serving both Lord Chronos and Lady Artemis, I mean no harm to you or Athena. We're not your declared enemies, after all."

However, Shion did not lower his guard. It was true the God of Time and the Goddess of Hunt were not typical enemies of Sanctuary, but he had heard of this woman now before him through tales of deceit and betrayal brought to his ears by his informants and fellowmen of past wars. Hecate's name had no clean reputation on it. "Is that so? Why should I trust your word? What do you want with me?"

Hecate raised a brow at him. "Indeed, I sense distrust in you. Has someone told you something bad about me?" she asked. "Was it a mysterious young boy named Shun and his comrades?"

A punching feeling hit Shion's gut and the Pope widened his eyes, recalled of Andromeda Shun, his brother and his two other Bronze Saint comrades who mysteriously emerged during the last Holy War with Hades. He and Dohko had never really found out from where exactly the group came from, but Athena seemed to have undying trust in them. "Yes, that's correct. He told me you allowed him to participate in the Lost Canvas War, but that you had tricked him and Athena somehow."

"I see… I assure you, though, that I have done nothing of the sort in all of my life-"

"Speak your purpose, witch, or leave!" Shion insisted, sensing that Hecate was digressing. "This is one of the holiest places in Athena's lands and you should be trialed just for the affront of trespassing here. I wouldn't waste time with diversions if I were you!"

Hecate lost her wicked smirk and became rather somber. "Very well, then." She accepted, resting both hands on her cane. "I am of no threat…because I am dying, your Holiness. I have not long for this world. I was hoping to find a way to rejuvenate myself before that moment came, but it seems time is running out for me." She revealed. "You, as a Lemurian, have had a long life too and probably understand how I feel."

The Pope calmed down. Now that he thought of it, he was sensing great frailty in Hecate's cosmos, even beyond what her decrepit looks already suggested. If it wasn't for the fact that Hecate was not to be trusted, he would probably feel sorry for her.

Hecate saw that the Pope was without words giving her a chance to speak and she took it. "As long a life I've had, I have yet something to do, something to tell you, three things to tell you to be exact. Three great prophecies that I have had that you would do well to hear."

This time, however, Shion couldn't help but laugh. "So you've suddenly felt in the mood to offer me advice after decades of accumulating fame of trickery? Prophecies, you say? Now I know that you're lying." He accused. "While sometimes the stars can still tell us of what is to come, there hasn't been anyone capable of actually seeing the future or 'reading the wind', as you prophets have called it, in five hundred years."

"Correction, your Holiness," interfered Hecate "There hasn't been anyone _born_ capable of predicting the future in five hundred years. Those born before that are still perfectly capable of listening to what the wind has to say." She saw Shion's gaze becoming impatient and aggravated. "Please, just hear me out. It is my destiny to tell you these things before I die. I promise not to waste your time."

Shion scratched his chin, pondering her words for a while. What harm could come from granting the old woman her final wish of letting her voice echo beyond her death? On the other hand, she could be looking towards manipulating him. However, Shion was confident that he would not be fooled by this woman. "Go ahead; speak to your heart's content."

Hecate seemed to regain her smile. "Thank you, your Holiness. You are wiser and kinder beyond your kin." She complimented. "However, I am afraid my first prophecy is a terrible one." She waved her walking stick around a bit and Shion found himself placed within an illusion together with her. "But let not my words alone guide you to it. Instead, allow me to show it to you."

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Shion widened his eyes. "What? What is this, an illusion?! This better not be another trick, Hecate."

"Please be patient, your Holiness. I merely wish to illustrate you what I foresaw, for this is Sanctuary…in my dream."

Shion's eyes wavered at the scenery and his jaw dropped slightly at the spectacle. He was standing in the air together with the witch and below their feet was the Holy Land of Athena. However, it was a place burning with war and destruction. Clouds of black smoke emanated from everywhere, darkening the skies. Flames could be seen on the roofs of Rodario as soldiers clashed against each other on the streets. The earth shook and the blackened sky was ripped apart as many powerful Saints clashed with each other and with other warriors from different armies, such as Specters and Mariners.

The Pope of Athena gasped and his eyes immediately searched for his Saints, only to find them either massacred on the streets or contributing to the violence. By the Gods, what was happening to his land?

"Sanctuary? What is going on here?" The Pope demanded to know as he saw more fires burning destruction spreading through his Goddess' domain. "What is all of this fighting?! What are my Saints doing?!"

"I have dreamed of dissent, Pope Arles the Third." Hecate called him, as it was the name Shion chose for himself as a Pope. "I envisioned events of rupture and chaos in the future that will tear Sanctuary apart."

The elderly man stared at the many armies slaughtered citizens and shattered homes. However, Shion's eyes didn't truly widen in horror until he saw the soldiers marching with heads on their spears and planting flags on roofs and high spots. They were flags of war and of different Gods, claiming bits of Sanctuary as their own to destroy while the Saints themselves couldn't stop shouting at and killing each other for no apparent reason. The sound of explosions, strange shots, screams and metal clashing were a constant and the reek of blood and gore filled the air.

The Saints themselves did not behave much better, trying to put up different fronts while making their own additions to the chaos, trampling the people they were supposed to protect and turning on each other. The spears, shields and fists meant to uphold Athena's name now smeared themselves in liquid red, shouting for causes of war and calling themselves the true saviors while doing little to end the carnage. Walls fell apart, curtains burned, people ran through the streets screaming and crying for their loved ones.

Shion stumbled back, horrified and in denial of what was before him. His eyes looked upwards to the clouds, as if searching Athena. He found no consolation in them, though.

For he saw beyond them bright divine eyes watched the chaos and raining destruction and death down on top of it. Shion screamed as he saw Sanctuary be engulfed by the heavenly wrath.

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The bright flash of light ended the illusion, returning the Pope and the Witch to the temple in Star Hill. The silent, calm environment of the peaceful Sanctuary brought little consolation to the Pope, who still saw flashes of the brutality he just witnessed running through his mind.

Sweat filled his face. "Do you expect me to believe any of that? You must be tricking me. How could any of that happen during my reign?"

"It's merely what I've foreseen, your Holiness." said Hecate, apparently finding the scene of destruction to be no laughing matter despite being no friend of Athena. "My first prophecy is one of a Great Age of War which scale hasn't been seen in a thousand years in Sanctuary."

"A thousand years? ...Is this because of Hades?!" He naturally assumed, grabbing her black collar and demanding an answer. "Is he the one causing this?"

The elderly witch remained calm. "If only... That would make the problem so much more familiar, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, the Age of War that is to come is not led by just Hades, but many forces and many great evils, godly _and_ human alike."

There was a moment Shion faltered, wondering if what she showed him could actually come true, but he soon enough shook his head at the notion. "No, this is impossible!" Shion let go of her. "You're wrong. So many conflicts could not start in Sanctuary so suddenly and in a row. Not on my watch!"

"I do not ask you to believe me, only to witness my vision. You'll see it become reality with your own eyes. As the Pope, you'll have a front row seat to Sanctuary's Apocalypse."

Shion gritted teeth and tightened his fists. His first instinct was to call her a liar and expel her from that sacred place before she tainted it further. However, there was something in her voice that sounded too honest, but perhaps it was just because she really was nearing her end. Almost against his own will, Shion found himself asking "What are the other prophecies you had?"

Hecate's high pitched laugh returned all of a sudden. "My second prophecy is one that will please you immensely, for it is one speaking of the return of legendary heroes, friends of yours." She revealed. She created a second illusion, this one of many men in golden armor standing behind her, their faces shadowed by their helmets. "Their reincarnation is at hand, oh Holy Father. Your dead comrades are returning from the beyond!"

"…What?"

"Sisyphus, Aspros, Asmita and the rest of their generation… I have dreamt of their return to your side." Hecate's smirk widened with the look on Shion's face. "They will come one-by-one. Sagittarius and Gemini will be the first to arrive together with Leo, who is Sagittarius' baby brother, and then a new Aries Saint will be brought to your House by a crying child. I have even dreamt of their names; Aiolos, Saga, Aiolia, Mu, Milo, Camus, Shura, Aldebaran, Aphrodite, Mephisto and Shaka. The Libra Saint, however,-"

"Wait, what are you saying?" Shion shouted, waving his hand at the illusion of the eleven Golden men. "Are you saying that my lost comrades, my long dead friends,… are returning?" Hecate nodded at this. Shion couldn't believe his ears. " _This is_ _incredible_ _. She just_ has _to be lying! For my friends to all return from the grave and become Saints… is too good to be true!_ _And a_ _new Aries Saint 'brought to me by a crying child'? What does she mean?_ " He saw Hecate stare at him, wondering what kind of conclusion Shion was making. " _My Master once spoke to me of the prophets of old and how more often that not they did not understand what the 'winds' told them, but limited themselves in passing on the knowledge they received to whom it was meant to. Could this witch be telling the truth?_ "

"Even though they carry different names and a new Aries comrade, they _are_ your old comrades returned from the cycle of reincarnation, destined to take their old roles again." Hecate insisted. "They will play an important part in this Age of War as the new Saints of Gold. I understand you already have a fully active generation of Gold Saints, but you would do well in finding these children and recruiting them as soon as possible."

The Pope spent about a minute in silence, contemplating her words, as he leaned his back against a pillar of the Star Hill Temple, as taken aback as he was. If Hecate was telling the truth, a new age of war was coming but he would get to see his long lost comrades once more, comrades that had died at his side so that he could become the next Pope and that he missed so much. He stared at the deformed, elderly witch and saw a look of interrogation in her face as she tried to discern if Shion was believing in her or not.

"…What is the third prophecy?" Shion asked.

"Ah, the third and most important prophecy…" Hecate announced. This time, there was no need for illusions.

" _What could be more important than an apocalyptic age of war during my reign as Pope and all my friends returning from the dead to fight it?_ " Shion wondered to himself.

"A child will be born… very soon…within this very year even." said Hecate. "This child will be born with eyes red like blood and a heart filled with the flames of hatred of the Phoenix. He will have a pivotal role in this great age of war, for him to be on your side or against you could determine whether the Goddess of Victory favors you or not."

Shion rubbed his eyes and composed himself. "A child, you say? ...With red eyes and the Phoenix's flames in his heart?"

Hecate nodded. "Yes. He, too, is the reappearance of a powerful warrior you have met during the last war. You must find this child and take him to your side. If you don't… well, not even I know what will happen, but it won't be for Athena's benefit." Her hand waved once more, this time to dispel the illusion. A bright flash followed and the scenes of destruction and returning Gold Saints were taken away.

The wave of light washed away and the Pope of Athena and the Witch of the Moon found themselves once again back in Star Hill. Hecate's three prophecies echoed in the elderly Lemurian's head, reminding him of the impending doom of Sanctuary despite all he had done over the years. He rattled his brain back and forth, trying to see flaws in her prophecies he could use to refute them, yet the hope of seeing his friends once more contrasted the terror the vision of destruction had brought.

With so much confusion in his old heart, he instead thought of the third council, trying to figure out who he was supposed to find. " _The reincarnation of a warrior of the past with the flames of Phoenix in his heart?... Could she be talking of Ikki, Shun's brother? She must be! Not only are my Gold Saint comrades returning, but Ikki and his allies as well._ " Hecate then started limping away. He tried to stop her. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have nothing more to say, your Holiness. I have given you my three prophecies. It is you who must decide whether to believe them or how to deal with them, though I recommend you follow my advises." Hecate then started to magically fade away into nothingness. "Farewell, Holy Father. I believe this will be the last time we'll see each other."

"Wait! What about-" Shion's hand reached out for her, but seemed to phase through her image. Shion stood there and watched as Hecate disappeared into thin air, leaving the Pope alone in that steep hill, talking to himself. "...Damn you... You're gone."

The wind blew strongly around him, making his white cloak wave and contributing to the way the witch just seemed to be gone with the wind. Shion stared at the emptiness before him, panting and unsure how to react.

Eventually, he calmed down and thought things through. " _An Age of War, my lost comrades and a red eyed child connected to the Phoenix... This all sounds too ludicrous to pan out._ " He concluded. " _Yet, some things she said made sense, so what if it 'is' true? What if Sanctuary really is standing at the edge of the abyss and I can't even see it?_ " Shion's eyes then turned to Athena's Colossus, which stood at the end of the Golden Zodiac. His eyes narrowed in determination. " _Regardless of the answer, I vowed to protect Sanctuary and lead the new generation of Gold Saints until Athena returns. Whether or not that witch was lying, that promise does not change. But, if I see that Hecate really was telling the truth, then I'll make a new vow…of doing everything I can to stop that madness of an age she said would come at all costs!_ " Shion's fist then tightened as if to enforce this promise.

As the Pope placed his black mask back in its rightful place, he took one last look at the stars through its red glass eyes. He spotted the Pegasus constellation in the sky whose' stars seemed to shine unnervingly for a moment. Shion shook his head, believing himself to be too tired and seeing things, and left behind Star Hill for another star-gazing night.

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**Chapter 1**

**First Arc**

**Episode 1**

**The Discussion**

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**16 years later (1976), Sanctuary, at the Pope's Chambers…**

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The eleven year old winged Gold Saint made his way across the grand halls of the Pope's temples as he adjusted his headpiece on top of his red bandana. He had been called a couple of minutes before to a Gold Saint meeting by a messenger from the Pope and he was already running late. Aiolos was not a tardy person, but hee couldn't help it, though; he was working at the hospital as a volunteer so he was away from his Temple, not to mention he had to drop off his younger brother Aiolia at the Leo Temple. Otherwise, Sagittarius Aiolos would never let himself fall so short in the Pope's expectations.

As he passed by the corridor leading to Athena's throne room where the meeting would be held, his blue eyes spotted a painting on the wall of a green haired Bronze Saint with a cloak and a shadowed face. The title "Great Bodyguard" was written on the frame's bottom. Aiolos smiled at the image, for the mysterious Bronze Saint who arrived with Athena during the Lost Canvas War was one of his favorite legends of the 18th Century.

The two foot soldiers standing guard at the large door, members of the elite Papal Guard, uncrossed their halberds. "Lord Sagittarius, His Holiness awaits you." They called.

Aiolos stared at them, amazed by their mechanized discipline. Sanctuary's foot soldiers had a poor reputation in terms of behavior and quality because they were mostly consisted of failed or quitting Bronze Cloth applicants, but the elite divisions such as the Papal Guard that resided in the Temples and the Herculean Guard that was formed by the current Heracles Saint, were of a whole new league. Many of them tried to set the example among their lesser brethren by showing off honor and disciple virtually unknown to the poorer divisions but could only do so far to subvert the images of unruliness, laziness and sometimes even violence the people of Sanctuary knew their foot soldiers for.

"Thank you." He said as he opened the doors and closed them behind him. He faced Athena's throne room where everyone awaited him. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was occupied at the moment of summoning."

All six pairs of eyes in the room turned to him. They belonged to the Pope himself, who sat in Athena's throne, and to five armored Gold Saints which included three members of the old generation of Gold Saints before his. Six years old Mu, one of the two from his generation, seemed to brighten up from his bored face when he saw Aiolos while twelve years old Saga just offered him a reprehending glance for being late. The Gold Saints took their spots before the Pope according to their generation and constellation.

The Pope got up from his seat. "It's alright. You're actually just in time for the briefing. Are you aware of the meeting's subject?" he asked. Aiolos shook his head as he took a spot next to Saga. "Taurus Daniel, if you please?"

The gigantic Gold Saint, one of the three older ones, stepped forward. He was a towering presence in that room, easily standing over ten feet tall and sporting long, blonde hair running down his back. Many tiny faint scars were marked on his face, denouncing both his particularly dangerous training past and his experience in the Civil War facing off Libra Dohko, and the large jaw, nose and neck drove home the strong brashness of his character. He crossed his arms. "We have been called here by the Pope to discuss the promotion of a certain Saint to our status." He said. "In other words, depending on what we conclude in this meeting, we may gain another Gold Saint comrade."

Aiolos widened his eyes and smiled. "Really, that's great! Lately its like an entirely new generation of our rank is being formed so I can't wait to meet the newcomer. Who is he?" But Aiolos then came up with a possibility that changed his look into one of dread. "Wait, it's not Aiolia, is it? You said once before you wanted a new Leo Saint and while I said I accepted the possibility of him joining the ranks, but only when he was old enough to make that decision for himself!"

"Calm down, already, they're not talking about your brother." said Saga, relieving his rival. He knew Aiolos and Aiolia ever since the trio's orphanage days and knew the Sagittarius would freak out. "They're talking about someone else. You and I set a good example for our generation, but you're not as strong as to make them believe your five-year old sibling should be automatically admitted, too."

Aiolos sighed in relief "Oh, thank the Goddess! Is this about Mu, then? I thought we had already formalized his position." he recalled, though he had also been against the Lemurian's promotion due to his young age.

"Nah, it's not me, either. I'm good to go as the Aries Saint. I know because now I finally have permission to work with pure oxygen torches, too." said Mu, the six years old Aries Saint. "It used to be that Master Shion would only let me work with propane torches of 3000ºC, but now I can work with pure oxygen ones that burn at 5000ºC!" he announced, so excited he shook his fists in the air. "I'm so happy! I can't wait to start working with the 10000 ones!"

"Five Thousand degrees's still too much for a kid to play with, Mu."

"It's not playing! It's _working_. I provide a very important service."

"It's hardly work when you're having so much fun you take apart the cloths just to repair them again, Mu." commented Saga. "But that's all neither here or there. We're here to talk about the next new Gold Saint, not Mu's alchemy habits."

Shion paused to look over the present members of the Golden Zodiac once more, especially Aiolos, Saga and Mu. He couldn't help but smile behind his mask. Aiolos and Saga were dead ringers of Sisyphus and Aspros and just like Hecate had predicted, they arrived at the same time with Aiolia, a toddler version of Regulus, in tow. More and more he believed in his heart that the witch's second prophecy really was true and that he would get to see all of his dead friends once more.

However, did this mean that the first and third were real as well? Were the Age of War and the red-eyed child's importance in it really as inevitable as Saga and Aiolos' arrival? He couldn't know for sure. All he could do right then and there was to focus on the second prophecy.

"The new candidate is a rather famous name in Sanctuary Town. After becoming a Bronze Saint two years ago he distinguished himself in assault missions and has been climbing the ladder ever since," said the Pope while Mu tried to contain a yawn. "He's currently running for the Cancer Gold Cloth after having proven to have unlocked the 7th Sense. You would all know him as the current Pegasus Saint."

Aiolos widened his eyes and Mu snapped completely out of his boredom. They now realized why the meeting was necessary.

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**Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Aries Temple**

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The foot soldiers standing guard at the temple spread out in front of the Bronze Saint and held him at spear point. "Halt right there, you red-eyed punk! This is the sacred House of Aries. You may not go through us!" warned the captain. "I don't care if you're a Bronze Saint. Only Gold Saints and those living under the protection of the Houses can go through here, Pegasus Lance!"

The Bronze Saint gritted teeth in frustration. He was a tall, sixteen years old young man with black hair whose most distinctive feature was the blood red color of his sharp eyes. He carried the Pegasus Cloth Box on his back and while most of Sanctuary's unarmored Saints wore trainers or the sort, Lance sported a casual red t-shirt, jeans and a set of bandages wrapped around his hands and forearms that were worn due to his harsh training regimen.

"Look, just get the hell out of my way, okay? The Pope can't just take the Silver Cloth I just won away, tell me he's going to discuss my future with the Gold Saints and then just make me wait out here in the dark!" Lance protested. He stepped forward but the foot soldiers just closed in their spears on him a bit more. "…I've been patient so far, but if you have five fucking seconds to stop pointing those things at me. I've done nothing wrong yet!"

One of the foot soldiers lost it. "Screw this! He put my friend in the hospital! This violent punk deserves to be in jail!" He then rushed ahead at the Saint with a sword in hand. "Take this!

"NO, YOU FOOL!" shouted the captain.

Lance's red eyes followed the sword swing, reading its trajectory. He side stepped to dodge the diagonal slash, stunned him with an elbow blow as they passed by and, when the foot soldiers tried to recover, Lance instantly hit him in the chest with a punch that shattered his armor before kicking him back to his friends. The foot soldier screamed and was caught by his friends, who stepped away from the Bronze Saint.

Lance narrowed his eyes and crackled his knuckles. "If you want a fight, you got it!"

"N-no, wait!"

Lance charged his white colored cosmos and swung his arm at the foot soldiers. They raised their guard and screamed in fear. Lance was about to smash the regiment with his punch when someone behind the Saint shouted. "Wait, stop, Lance!" The very familiar sound of rattling chains was then heard before something wrapped itself around Lance's forearm. The metal chain became tense, halting Lance's punch.

Lance's red eyes narrowed in frustration and looked over his shoulder to confront the person who interfered. "Damn it...Shinta, what are you doing here?! I told you not to come!"

The foot soldiers opened their eyes to see the shocking sight of Lance stopped in his tracks by the metallic chain belonging to the green haired feminine-looking Saint next to Pegasus. Andromeda Shinta waited until Lance relaxed his attacking arm to release his friend. "I followed you because I just knew you'd get in trouble trying to get inside the Temples. _Nissan_ , please don't start a fight. I'm sure we can get inside if we just explain your situation."

A loud, frustrated groan filled the air as he watched the thirteen years old Andromeda Saint retract his chain and wrap it around his own pink forearm guard. "Shinta, first of all, I think I told you not to call me that dumb honorific in public. It's embarrassing and _we're not actually brothers._ Second, they're the ones who started the fight! I was just teaching them the error of their ways. If we don't pay people back, they'll never learn and keep coming back at you."

The pacifist Saint was resolute, though. "I can't believe you really mean that. That's an awful thing to say-"

"We're warriors! You were _taught_ this 'awful thing' by your Master, Shinta!"

Shinta seemed horrified by this, widening his green eyes for a moment at his comrade as if he didn't recognize Lance for a second. However, he then smiled at him, being absolutely sure that Lance meant no real harm with his line of thinking. "Even so, Lance, you know I just don't like fights. Since I know you're worried about what the Pope's discussing, let's just try to not escalate the situation and work our way around it, okay? "

Lance gestured his permission.

The Andromeda Saint headed for the foot soldier captain. "I'm sorry. Lance was just trying to get in because he's very worried about whatever the Gold Saints are discussing about him. Can we get inside? We promise we won't break the rules and be always under someone's watch. Hopefully our Bronze Saint ranks can be a guarantee of our good intentions."

The captain composed himself, but he found himself hesitating to answer due to the fact that he couldn't stop staring at the contrast between the two friends. Not only Lance was a good chunk taller than the Andromeda Saint, but their looks were completely different as well. Shinta had long, curly green hair, emerald eyes and delicate face features that, if it wasn't for the fact that Shinta was wearing no mask, would have the captain believe he was talking to a girl. His soft voice didn't help the matter, either.

Even so, the captain stood firm. "I'm sorry, Saint Shinta, but I cannot allow either of you to get through. As I explained to your… _friend_ , you guys just don't have the authority to go inside."

Shinta frowned. "Oh, I see. Are you absolutely sure? Maybe if we can just talk to the Aries Saint-"

"Please, leave this staircase. You guys have already caused enough trouble." The captain then had his guards stand tall next to the door.

"But, I-"

Lance grabbed Shinta's shoulder and dragged him out of there. "Come on, Shinta, they won't let us through, they made _that_ perfectly clear." When they left the stairs, the two friends stopped by the entrance to Sanctuary Town. Lance sighed. "Shinta, I told you to stay in town, didn't I?"

Shinta covered his head. "I'm sorry, Lance, I didn't mean to make you angry, but I didn't want you to get into another fight when you've just been beaten by the Heracles Saint. You were in really bad shape, you know? Even you have to recover and take it easy from time to time."

Reminded of his recent match at the Coliseum with the unexpectedly powerful Silver, Lance irked. "I'm fine! I don't feel like a train just ran over me anymore so I can fight already. Besides, they're just foot soldiers, I can handle them-"

"That's no excuse for picking up unecessary scuffles, Lance!" Shinta interrupted, unusually determined to make his point as Lance was used to a meeker Andromeda Saint. "You're by far the toughest of the two of us but sometimes you really run straight into trouble without need. You've worked really hard to get a chance to win that Silver Cloth, so I can see that when the Pope took it away from you because you needed further evaluation, you'd feel like doing something crazy, but... I'm sorry, Lance… but I'm your friend and I can't let you lose your head right now and storm Sanctuary."

Lance sighed once more. "It's alright, Shinta, you don't have to feel sorry for every little thing. I know you had good intentions. I just wished you'd quit worrying about me. You got a Silver Cloth to go after yourself, right? I mean, we've met a year and a half ago and we've done nothing but dangerous missions together since then and you're still so... weird with your priorities, you know?"

The Andromeda Saint had a hard time arguing back at this. If there was one thing both Lance and Master had always berated him was for was when he drove his pacifism overboard and started putting other people's well-being ahead of his own without need. "I don't think I'm doing the wrong thing by it, Lance. I've always really hated when people would call me a wimp or think I'm a girl but I think it's important to find the least violent solution. It may not seem like it... but I think that's a way to be a good Saint, too." Shinta saw Lance seemingly ignoring him, lost in his own little world. Lance was really good at hiding his emotions. He was smart, too. Shinta could bet the Pegasus Saint was thinking deeply about something. "Do you think… that the Gold Saints are talking about demoting you, Lance?"

Lance's red eyes turned to the Golden Zodiac's thirteenth temple, the one where the Pope resided. He thought about how the whole thing started. "He called this weird meeting because of my match with the Heracles Saint. I thought I did really well but then he just took the Kentaurus Silver Cloth away, anyway. Shinta, they had you interviewed, right? What did you tell them?"

Shinta quickly shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, Lance. I didn't say anything personal or anything you wouldn't like me to talk about. I tried to be as truthful as I could but I also said you were a good person who deserves the Kentaurus Silver Cloth."

The thought of the Gold Saints talking about him didn't leave Lance's mind, however, and he turned his eyes at the far off Golden Zodiac. "Lately we've seen a lot of new Gold Saint candidates going back and forth the temples. Something has definitely been going on there. I wonder what."

Having also seen his share of signs of change in Sanctuary, the Andromeda Saint tried to formulate his own theories. "My Master, Cepheus Guardnia, told me once there are only a few surviving members of the old generation left. Maybe the Pope is recruiting new Gold Saints. Everyone says Holy War is in twenty years from now, right?"

The Andromeda Saint spoke of the common knowledge there was in Sanctuary's population about Hades' war tactics. It seemed pretty obvious to everyone when each Holy War would start when the God of the Underworld seemed to take recuperation or sealing periods of about two hundred and fifty years after every lost war, so predicting when he would return was not that difficult.

It was still a serious topic to be thinking about, though. Not exactly the most light-hearted of conversation topics when each war was said to result in the death of most of the army. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Maybe the Pope is currently renovating the ranks with fresh Gold Saints. I wish they were allowed to divulge their identies because I'd really like to meet them. They might be people we know, right? Whover the new Gold Saints are, I can tell they'll be very important for the next few decades." However, Lance only seemed further preoccupied. Shinta's eyes softened. He hugged his friend in a desperate attempt to comfort him. "Don't worry, Lance. I know for sure they'll do the right thing."

"Get off me, you pansy!"

Shinta smirked. It was nice to see Lance a bit up lifted. "They'll judge you fairly, Lance, I'm sure of it."

Lance's red eyes stared at Andromeda. " _Judge me fairly, huh? Considering my past and what they think I've done, I'm afraid that's exactly what they'll do."_ he thought.

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"I think we are rushing into things, though." confessed Kirin, the Gold Saint of Capricorn of the time. "We can't just award him a Gold Cloth just like this. The Pegasus Saint has a dubious reputation and this not exactly a meaningless position."

 _"_ Your Holiness, I believe myself as an optimistic person, but I agree with Kirin. _"_ said Taurus Daniel. "He doesn't even have a proper Saint's education. He's defiant to his superiors and he's uneducated in proper Sainthood. His fight with Saint Kerberos two years ago is enough proof of that."

"What do you mean?" asked a young Sagittarius Aiolos, intrigued. "I've heard a lot about the Pegasus Saint, but I don't really know his story."

"Me neither. Is he a bad guy?" asked Mu. He then turned to Saga and realized the blue-haired Saint and Lance would be neighbors if Pegasus became a Gold Saint. "I guess that'd be alright. You'd be able to handle him, right, Saga?"

Saga smirked. "Of course, he may be strong for a Bronze Saint, but he's not trained in the same way we are, Mu." He touched his chest. "I, above all, should have the least trouble."

"According to the files on Pegasus Lance as he's better known," answered Capricorn Kirin "he was sentenced at the age of ten to be sent to the training grounds on Mount Olympus to obtain the Pegasus Bronze Cloth within eight years."

Saga widened his eyes. "Why? Also, isn't the usual timespan for the Path of the Bronze Cloth just six years?"

"The actual name of the punishment is Jason's Exile and it is used to teach unruly trainees a lesson in humbleness. Essentially, the trainee is sent to a B-level Training Ground and given a Master for fifteen days. If by the end of those days the Master sees that the trainee hasn't learnt his lesson, the penalty is applied." explained Aquarius Malta. "The penalty is that you must take the Path of the Cloth on your own with an eight year deadline."

"What if you go beyond the deadline? What then?"

"Simple, you are executed."

Aiolos gulped. Deadlines with death were not a strange thing to Sanctuary's traditions. "I see… Just out of curiosity, why was Mount Olympus chosen?"

Shion answered this one. "The reason why was actually never recorded. When he was sentenced, a seer from the Virgo Temple was sent to the Sanctuary-sponsored orphanage he was in to determine if he was born under the protection of a constellation. I'm not sure what she concluded from her session with him, though. All that it is known is that a couple of days later Lance was shipped to Mount Olympus, where the Pegasus Temple resides in."

"The Master chosen for him was Kerberos Kastiel, one of the few Silver Saints available for the job at the time." added the Capricorn Saint. "Fifteen days after the start of training, Saint Kastiel made his decision about Lance."

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**Six years earlier (1970)**

**Mount Olympus, 'Second Level'**

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The valley of the Mount Olympus Training Ground was battered by the intense snowstorm which filled the haunting scenery of dead, blackened trees in irregular rocky ground with white. The road marks, already barely visible during the rare good weather, were now completely hidden by the snow almost as if to further isolate the lonely wooden cabin that provided the only housing in an otherwise desolate mountain range.

Sitting in a wide crossroad among the naked forests, the cabin was poor in construction but functional. The same could be said for the rocks and boulders around it, which were marked with bloody imprints of small fists and kicks but otherwise intact.

For Lance, this was a bad thing, especially that particular day.

Kastiel walked out of the small, stone house located in the tree-filled bottom of one of the valleys of Mount Olympus. Behind him, ten year old Lance desperately tried to keep up with him, "Kastiel, wait!" he cried out. Kastiel stopped and turned around, facing Lance, who caught up with him and also stopped, panting. The Silver Saint narrowed his eyes, irritated. Lance rested his hands on his knees and panted repeatedly. "Where are you going?! You're just leaving me here?!"

Kastiel frowned a little. "I'm going back to Sanctuary. From now on, you're on your own, kid!"

"What?!" Lance stared at the Silver Saint for a bit, who seemed to be dead serious "B-but, you can't leave me here! Master, I-"

"Don't call me that! I have renounced you as a student!" Kastiel interrupted, raising his finger. "The rules of Jason's exile are clear, you had two weeks to prove yourself humble and able enough to deserve my teaching. You failed to demonstrate _both_ , Lance, so I'm leaving!"

Lance widened his gaze, eyes misty and visibly hurt by Kastiel's harsh words. He struggled to contain his frustrated, desperate tears, looking at his feet to avoid the eye contact with the Silver Saint. Kastiel rolled his eyes. He had a very strong suspicion that Lance had abandonment issues, which was most likely a result of the years Lance spent in the Athenian orphanage where he was found.

Lance's true origin was no big mystery. It was known that he was born in Athens and though his parents suffered a horrible accident in the streets of the Greek Capital that rendered him every bit as orphan as every other Saint in Sanctuary, there was not much else to spice up his past. His parents, however, were not properly identified and as a result, there was doubt regarding Lance's true ascendancy. Though born in Greece, the nameless child's parents could also have been foreigners, after all. Most Greek Purists in Sanctuary didn't take kindly to foreign trainees.

Taken to a nearby catholic orphanage, he would endure ten years of complete lack of healthy social relationships, shunned by the other children due to his red eyes and under the care of neglectful staff. Even the name Lance was given to him by the Silver Saint who found him and brought him to the Sanctuary, claiming he saw potential in the boy to become a Saint of Athena, while in the orphanage they simply called him Little Red as an allusion to the unusual color of his eyes.

The lack of any kind of direct affection or fixed identity, both in the orphanage and within the Sanctuary, caused Lance to develop an introverted, unruly personality, and the resulting psychological marks were causing Lance to be in denial towards the idea of Kastiel abandoning him in that mountain, despite having already warned him two weeks before of this when they first got there.

However, Kastiel, despite the boy's complicated childhood, didn't have any kind of particular affection towards Lance. There were too many orphans to count back in Sanctuary. In fact, he was eager to leave the mountain and Lance on his own as soon as possible after the two weeks of failed teaching he had to go through.

"I already told you when we first got here!" continued Kastiel "I would teach you the basics of cosmos, survival and personal training and, after that, I would leave if you didn't learn your lesson!"

"But..." muttered Lance, eyes shadowed, fists trembling, a tear falling down his cheek. Even in Sanctuary people just seemed anxious to get rid of him. "You can't just do this to me! You can't just leave me here in this cold mountain filled with wolves!"

"I'm leaving! You have eight years, remember? That's two years more than most trainees due to Jason's Exile's rules. Stop sulking, unlock your cosmos once and for all, beat the temple's challenge and get the Pegasus Cloth!"

"H-HOW AM I S-SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?! You won't teach me properly!"

Tired of the excuses, Kastiel just turned his back. "Eight years! If you can't even do that, don't even bother coming back to Sanctuary, you'll die anyway!"

Lance stood silent for a moment. He then wiped the single tear that fell down his cheek, not wanting to cry in front of the Silver Saint, and looked up, facing Kastiel with narrowed eyes. "Fine...Leave! I don't need you! I'll get the Cloth of Pegasus..." he then looked over his shoulder. "I'll show you! Everyone just keeps abandoning me anyway! Why would I need _your_ stupid help?" Lance then turned his back on the man and folded his arms, furiously pouting.

Kastiel squinted at him. "That is exactly the kind of attitude that got you into this mess. Don't you get it, Lance? I could choose to stay here. I could choose to ignore the punishment Sanctuary gave you for being such a stuck-up brat and train you past the two weeks the Silvers decided to offer you. But you...You just ask for this!" Kastiel spat. "Don't kid yourself, Lance. Even _if_ you _do_ survive the training and get strong enough to move the temple's statue, you'll still have to pass the temple's challenge, something that no one has yet to do alone in over two hundred years! Just give up!"

Lance staggered, as he felt like he was being stabbed by Kastiel's sharp words. No one, not even Kastiel, ever had any faith in him.

"To be honest I'll be surprised if they tell me you lasted more than a year. Just look at this place," continued Kastiel " It's a B-Rank training ground, but it's more than enough to kill you. If not the training, the wolves or even the passing Black Saint, the cold will. Yet better people try and don't get the Cloth in even easier conditions, so who the hell do you think you are to be so arrogant? You're no better than any other kid that you trained with back in the Sanctuary!...The Silver Saint who brought you to Sanctuary didn't name _you_ , Lance,… he named your tomb!"

With these words, Kastiel left in a blur of supersonic speed, leaving behind Lance, who was holding back a dam full of angry tears. Up to his knees in snow, Lance just stared teary-eyed at the void Kastiel left behind, eight years of isolation, cold and danger awaiting him.

He went inside the house, closing the wooden door behind him with a harsh bang, and sat on his poorly constructed bed, failing to hold the dam in his eyes any longer.

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**Present…**

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Aiolos and Mu widened their eyes. The Lemurian child turned to his Master, the Pope. "Master, is this true? Saint Kastiel really left him there to die?" Shion nodded at him. "That's terrible! Why would he do that?"

"Actually, it's quite normal in Sanctuary training for something like this to happen." commented Aquarius Malta, unmoved by the story. "In fact, I support Saint Kastiel's decision. All Saints are put to these kinds of standards and tests. Character is extremely important in a Saint. In some Training Grounds, such as Andromeda Island, Masters are required to kill their trainees in many of their tests in case of failure." A look of shock filled Mu's face. "You have just been sheltered from all of this by your special promotion conditions, but Kastiel was just doing his job."

Saga saw Aiolos and Mu holding their tongue in shocked silence and decided to intervene. "That may be true, Saint Malta. The three of us have not followed the traditional Path of the Bronze Cloth." he admitted. "However, from what I've learned, the killings are only required in advanced tests, well past the third or fourth year of training, or when the trainee demonstrates truly abhorrent behavior such as murdering the _competition_. You're not telling me that abandoning an underachieving Saint who was yet to unlock his cosmos in a B level Training Ground to fend for himself isn't worse than that, are you?"

Shion chuckled when he saw Malta at loss for words. "Well said, Saga! All our Masters have been very kind to us and tolerated many of our mistakes. You yourself, Malta, have done terrible mistakes with the powers your teacher taught you to use and he never abandoned you, did he?"

Malta scoffed. "Maybe not, your Holiness… but Jason's Exile has strict rules and the point to retain from all of this is that Lance failed to abide by them. How can we expect others to respect our law if we don't enforce it? You can feel sorry for someone failing the training, but it's another thing to comment that it's not normal."

The Pope nodded. "Correct. It's precisely because of these things, and more that will be mentioned in this meeting, that I simply had to summon you all here." Shion said. He joined hands behind his back and contemplated Hecate's words. He wished he could tell the Gold Saints the reason he had faith in Lance, but he had made the mistake of talking about Hecate's prophecy and the distant past to justify his actions before and he has lived to regret this deeply.

Shion saw the Gold Saints exchanging glances with these words. He knew they were aware of the risk it was to give Lance such a chance. Even the three younger ones were starting to realize that they needed to learn more about the Pegasus Saint in order to properly decide. The Pope waved his hand, causing the Cancer Pandora Box to emerge from behind the curtains and be placed in the middle of them via telekinesis.

The Gold Saints all stared at the golden, cubic box with the engraved crab, Karkinos, on its front face for a while. "Pegasus Lance's fate is in our hands, Gold Saints of Athena. Whether he joins us or remains a troubled Bronze Saint is entirely up to us." Shion reminded them. "Before we decide if he's worthy of the Gold, however, we should look at the past and see how he was worthy of the Bronze!"

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**Chapter end**

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 **Next Chapter:** Pegasus

 **Description:** Lance's final moments in Mount Olympus are recalled by the Gold Saints and Lance himself. Back then, young Lance had been told by Kastiel that he had to overcome an obstacle to prove his strength to the Pegasus, but he had no idea what it was.

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_**Author Note** : The story that is Lance's Role is the result of several failed attempts at fanfiction writing and a rapidly evolving idea regarding a group of original characters in the Saint Seiya universe. The original manifesto is still in my room, written in pencil, but is wildly different from the story you'll be reading in many aspects and I've written other stuff, too, but this is simply the fic that had me invest more of my imagination into._

_If you are expecting romance, there will be, but only in a later stage of the story and I will very unlikely write anything 'yaoi' or 'yuri'. Regarding pairings between canon characters, I will try to follow what is the most general consensus among the fans while remaining faithful to the original story, rather than follow my personal taste._

_The choice of it being a 'Saint Seiya' fanfic came from several factors, the main one being how unfulfilled of a story I always thought Kurumada's series to be. Not only it is incomplete, but its timeline has a lot of space for original ideas, so I was able to create a lot more in the Saint Seiya universe than in the others._

_Evens from both the Next Dimension and Lost Canvas series will be taken in account. There will be a compromise between the two, as well as between the manga and anime differences. For example, Asgard will exist, but so will much of what was not shown in the anime from the manga's story._

_Anyway, thank you for your patience and support. I work very hard on this story and I hope you enjoy Lance's Role, a shounen-style fanfiction story._  
  
**Note to Archive of Our Own:** This is my first publication here, please go easy on me ( > < )


	2. Pegasus

**Notable OCs up until now that I own:** Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Heracles Aguilon's Silver Saint Generation; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation;

 **Notable Original concept (until now):** Sanctuary Town; Pegasus Temple;

 **Recurrent/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic:** Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

 **Recurrent/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic:** 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography

 

Please enjoy and review.

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_"His Cloth used to be Pegasus; that is true, Seiya, but he got it in a slightly different manner than you did and he surrendered it to Sanctuary's possession when he finally stopped using it for good. I remember him saying that he doesn't miss it anymore, but I can see in his eyes that that's bullshit. After all, you never forget your first Cloth, no matter how much you progress past it."_

_-_ 20th century's Taurus Aldebaran, to Pegasus Seiya

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Shion waved his hands over the Cancer Gold Cloth. "Pegasus Lance has been a Bronze Saint for two years already. Two years ago, four years after being abandoned in Mount Olympus to die, he returned to Sanctuary against all odds after only half the time limit had expired. The underachieving trainee survived all the perils of the mountain and fulfilled the Path of the Bronze Cloth without the help of his would be Master, Kastiel." He then turned to the three younger Gold Saints. "As said before, you two had special promotion conditions so you are not fully aware of what this entails, do you?"

Saga and Aiolos shook their heads. "I'm aware that the different ranks of Cloths have different requirements, but I do not know the details, your Holiness." said Aiolos.

"Oh, I do! I do!" Mu shouted, raising his hand into the air. He has worked with broken Cloths for a while so he had insight his two seniors did not. His Master gave him permission to explain. "In order for you to be able to wear a cloth, you have to be under the protection of its constellation. Everybody's born under a zodiacal constellation, but at any instance of your life, you may also be under the protection of a Bronze and Silver one. You just can't have two of the same level, such as being protected by Pegasus AND Bear. This is why Saints can suffer promotions and demotions in level of the Cloth."

Shion clapped his hands. "Correct, very good, Mu!" He praised, giving Mu just cause for a sheepish smile. "While, sometimes, you are also born under the protection of a Bronze or Silver Constellation, most people are only born with the zodiacal one."

Aiolos widened his eyes. "Oh, is that so? That's interesting. But why are some people born with Bronze and Silver while most are not?"

Taurus Daniel explained this one. "The cause of that may vary greatly, Aiolos. Most philosophers agree that you can inherit the protection from family ties or, and take this with a grain of salt, from your _previous reincarnation_. For example, you could be born under the protection of Pegasus because your father was the Saint of it or because," Daniel then cleared his throat, as he was a bit skeptic of his next few words "well, because you were the Saint of it in a previous life."

Shion smiled inside his mask. Reincarnation was a subject of heavy debate in Sanctuary. Many historians and members of the Golden Zodiac, especially of the Virgo temple, argued ferociously over whether or not reincarnation among humans and the tendency of the two lives being very similar was real. As his eyes locked on Saga and Aiolos, who Hecate had predicted to be the returned Aspros and Sisyphus, Shion could only believe it to be real.

Taurus Daniel continued. "Like the Pope said before, a seer was sent to Saint Lance's orphanage to see if he was born under a Bronze or Silver Constellation through their special spiritual techniques and rituals. It has also been proven that psychological tests can give you a hint to what your constellation is, so some Masters figure out what is the best Path of The Cloth for their students just by getting to know them really well." He then placed his hand on his chest. "For example, when I was a kid, many decades ago, I was told to be under the protection of the Bear Constellation so I took its path, but later on, I managed to become the Whale Silver Saint, too, even though I didn't have its protection. Do you know how?"

Saga figured it out immediately. "Other constellations outside of the zodiac take you under their wing when you complete their Paths if you weren't born under it?"

Taurus nodded. "Exactly, however, constellations have a life of their own. They have opinions and standards regarding your personality and desires. You must live up to those standards or the Cloth may decide to abandon you." Saga felt alarmed all of a sudden with this. Did the Gemini Cloth also expect something from him? Taurus Daniel saw the worried look in his eyes and chuckled. "Ha, ha, ha! Don't worry, Saga! I'm sure the three of you will have no problem keeping your Cloths happy."

Saga seemed to relax, but Aiolos folded his arms when a question filled his mind. "Doesn't this mean that you can switch your Bronze and Silver constellation for a new set?"

Aquarius Malta nodded. "Unless under special circumstances, Bronze Cloths usually require you to have a six years' worth of training and the completion of the tests they set out for you in the respective Training Ground. Silver Cloths usually only require three. If you are willing to take those years of training all over again under the guidance of the new constellation you want to follow, then yes, you may."

Capricorn Kirin, however, then explained something important. "But Aiolos, that would be the same as betraying your constellation, wouldn't it? It's an extremely dishonorable thing to do. It would be like swearing allegiance to a new Master just because you didn't like the old one. The old Master would consider you a traitor and the new one would distrust you."

"Kirin is right. The Path of the Cloth is a sacred journey that will test your principles and determination as a Saint. Turning your back on it for another one of the same level is one of the worst things you could do as a Saint in the eyes of the Cloths."

"So was Lance judged to be under the Pegasus Cloth's protection?" asked Aiolos.

"We don't know what the seer concluded. Jason's Exile's rules, however, stipulate that you are sent to an empty Training Ground of difficulty level B or lower and Mount Olympus was the only one available at the time" reminded the Pope.

"But your Holiness, if Saint Lance has been placed under the protection of the Pegasus Constellation, since he _has_ obtained the respective armor, doesn't it mean that the Pegasus Cloth deemed him to be a worthy Saint?"

Shion had his reservations about this. During the past Holy War with Hades, that demonic God who finally brought down Tenma had done it so brutally that the Pegasus Cloth had been traumatized by the experience and lost all of its godly power. Shion still remembered repairing the shattered Pegasus God Cloth into its base form and realizing that the wild, ambitious spirit of the Pegasus Cloth had turned into a weak, fragile steed too afraid of opposing its would-be Masters.

"Unfortunately, Aiolos, due to the damage it sustained during the last Holy War," the Pope said "the Pegasus Cloth has been deemed unfit to judge trainees properly. Because of that, I returned it to the Pegasus Temple and asked a certain spirit to act as its guardian. That spirit has been judging the trainees in Mount Olympus ever since."

"So you're saying that Lance's promotion to bronze is no immediate guarantee of his character?" asked Saga.

Shion nodded. "I'm afraid so. Only Athena, Lance and the Pegasus Cloth themselves know what actually happened inside that temple two years ago and what Pegasus' guardian concluded about trainee Lance. Moreover, there's also the fact that Lance trained without a Master to instill morals and discipline in him."

"As a result of this experience, Lance has become a lone wolf." added Taurus Daniel. "Until he was assigned to work with Saint Shinta, he took his missions alone and had no friends among the Saints. Many antagonized him for his encounter with Kastiel after he obtained the Pegasus Cloth, too, and for the violence he was a part of within Sanctuary against his own peers."

Aquarius Malta nodded. "Gold Saints are not loners. They are comrades fighting under the name of Athena. The reason fighting among them is prohibited is not limited to the destruction they can cause to themselves and others. Even if we accept him as a lone wolf, someone like that who disrespects the value of unity cannot and should not be treated as one of us."

Capricorn Kirin then concluded. "Our generation of Gold Saints fought valiantly against many threats before the three of you were even born, and we have a firm belief that we only survived because we stayed united, not apart. You can ask any half-decent captain, and they'll tell you that rogue elements in any military unit are a liability. Do not overlook Lance's attitude."

The three older Gold Saints then kept quiet for a while with these words and Shion seemed to grow a bit somber too. The three younger Gold Saints kept staring at them for a while, wondering what they were thinking about.

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**Chapter 2**

**First Arc**

**Episode 2**

**Pegasus**

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 **Two years before, early January of 197** **4** **in Mount Olympus**

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Inside the cabin he had spent four years of his life, trainee Lance put on his red shirt, tied the bandages around his forearms and hands and listened to the wind blowing strongly on the outside, spreading the snow and the cold. Lance's red eyes turned to the broken mirror on his wall. Standing almost six feet tall and with a completely different muscle size, he no longer recognized the kid Kastiel abandoned in the cold eyed, hardened teenager that stared back at him.

He spent about a minute looking at his front door, gathering his courage to go outside and face his challenge. Thinking about the four years he had spent there, running away from the animals, particularly the wolves, the cold and even the occasional bandit or Black Saint trying to harass Sanctuary by taking over the place, his eyes narrowed, for he realized he had had enough of it.

He opened the door and faced the snowy field and setting sun.

Normally, he wouldn't think of going outside at such an hour, especially during the winter, due to his cryophobia. Years in that cold mountain had been absolute torture to him as he was forced to endure cold nights and cruel snowstorms in an attempt to survive. As he rushed through the rocky ground as fast as he could, he tried not to think about the snow he was stepping in. However, the harsher parts of the winter would come that month and Lance didn't want to be around once more to face it.

After a while of sprinting at superhuman speed and leaping around obstacles and rocks, he reached the highest spot of the Training Ground. Mount Olympus was actually divided into _Steps of a staircase_. What normal people saw as Mount Olympus, the three kilometer high Mountain amongst eleven other rocky peaks, was but the first 'Step' to it. The 'staircase', however, was said to have another one thousand 'steps' invisible to the normal eye, each one only accessible through secret passage on the highest peak of the last _step_. It was probably accurate to say that the real Mount Olympus consisted of a thousand secret mountains stacked on top of the first step.

Lance's Training Ground was simply the second step of the mountain and Sanctuary's control was said to only stretch itself to the third or fourth one. All the other ones above belonged to the Gods, each with increasingly difficult conditions, so much that it was said not even Gold Saints could make it past the fiftieth or so.

Lance halted his march. At the highest spot of the second Step, an upwards rocky road circulated the peak until reaching the top, where the secret passage to the Third step would be. But Lance didn't need to go any further for along the path, dug into the mountain's side, was the Pegasus Temple's entrance.

Even with the setting sun blasting its light on it, it looked dark, decayed and foreboding. The marble of its pillars, ramp and entablature was darkened by time and filled with cracks and dead vines. The entablature itself featured Ancient Greek style images of Greek warriors battling each other for a box in the middle with a horse head biting on a handle on its front face. Below that image, an inscription was engraved in Ancient Greek.

"' _Would you die for your dreams as I have done?'_ " Lance read to himself. "' _If your will is strong and your path is clear to you, tread upon this Temple without fear. If not, then may the unforgiving Plain of Aleion claim your miserable life_ …what the hell? Who wrote that?"

Lance's red eyes stared at the inscription. However, they then picked up the light of the sun setting itself. Conditions in the second Step were much harsher than in the first one. At night, the negative temperatures reached critical levels. Lance groaned and rushed inside the temple to take over.

Once inside, however, he felt his foot stepping on something stony that caved inside the ground under his weight. Lance widened his eyes as he heard the sound of stone mechanisms working within the walls of the temples. "SHIT! A trap!" he cursed, turning around, but too late as the stardust reinforced door of rock slid down the entrance, crashed with the floor and locked him inside the Temple. The room was enveloped in darkness as the only source of light had been blocked before Lance could find a torch. Lance's fists blindly banged on the stone block that trapped him in. "NO!" he shouted. Lance took a deep breath to calm himself down. "What am I going to do now? I can't see anything in this dark."

All of a sudden, two flames around him lit up; illuminating the corridor he was in. Lance's eyes widened as he watched more pairs of torches lit up one by one along the corridor's length. The trainee sighed in relief. For a moment, he thought he had doomed himself by coming to that temple. His eyes analyzed the stone door that locked him in. It had a cubic slot where a Cloth box could probably fit inside. Maybe all he needed was the Pegasus Cloth Box as the stardust-reinforced stone would certainly absorb the strength of his cosmos punches.

His fist tightened in anger and he cursed Kastiel, the man who abandoned him. He had only told him that the Temple would have a challenge, but he gave no details. He didn't even hint towards the possibility of him not being able to leave the Temple without the Cloth. As Lance walked along the corridor towards the innards of the Temple he vowed to obtain the Pegasus Cloth whatever the cost, even if it maimed him or worse.

The corridor led him to a large, long room supported by two lines of pillars along the walls. More torches lit up, also fully illuminating this room. The walls were dark and dusty and the air was quite humid and cold. Lance's body trembled involuntary with the low temperature and he hugged himself as he walked along the walls. He then realized that there were pictures engraved on the stone walls between the pillars.

The first couple of pictures were nothing really interesting. The depicted mostly the myth of Pegasus, such as its birth from Medusa's blood, Perseus riding it towards Andromeda Island and Bellerophon taming it and using it to try to climb all the Steps of Olympus.

However, the pictures started depicting Saints of Pegasus and Lance found himself intrigued by them. The first ones showed battles with Specters and Mariners, but eventually, he started running into larger engravings of a man wearing celestial armor fighting what looked like a depiction of Hades.

Lance stepped close to the last picture, the one at the end of the room. " _A dead end?_ " he asked himself before analyzing the image. It showed three figures. One was the man in Celestial armor in the right unleashing what looked like meteors from his fist. Another was a man on the left wearing a set of armor he did not recognize, though it covered him fully like a Gold Cloth and featured a right forearm shaped like a Chinese dragon, while Athena, the third figure, watched over the fight from above.

Lance then sensed a concentrated cosmos behind the walls. He widened his eyes and his heart started beating faster as he recalled having sensed the same coming from Cloth Boxes. Realizing that the Pegasus Cloth Box was standing behind the picture, he stepped back and charged his white cosmos.

"Yes! This is it!" he excitedly proclaimed. He then charged forward and punched the wall. Upon impact, however, there was a burst of light and Lance screamed as he was shocked and projected backwards. The trainee fell backwards on the stone floor, rolling around several times before stopping himself. He coughed and picked himself back up. "W-what?! What happened?"

"Do you wish to obtain the Pegasus Cloth?" someone suddenly asked. Lance watched as the image of the three figures split right in the middle, opened up and moved out of the way, revealing a platform standing over an abyss with a cubic metal box being illuminated from above.

Lance stood up straight and locked eyes with the far away object, his mouth becoming agape. There it was, right in front of him, making his heart beat faster than ever and a warm feeling fill his guts, the Cloth he had dreamed for four years to obtain. "The…the Pegasus Cloth, I… YES! Yes, I want to!" he then shouted, though not sure of what was going on. "Who are you? Where are you speaking from?"

A strange, silver colored cloud started emerging in front of him from the abyss the Pegasus platform stood over. It moved around until it formed a vaguely humanoid shape with two eyes of bright white light. "Leave. You are not meant to obtain it."

Lance staggered. "What? What are you talking about?"

The fog started materializing itself. An image of a man started forming in front of the trainee, which then colored itself and seemed to become solid. He was a young adult with blonde, ear-length curly hair and deep blue eyes with a stern look on them. He wore sandals, protective pads on the knees down and a _chiton_ , or ancient Greek clothing consisting of a sewn garment held on the shoulder and tied on the waist. He also wore leather protections around his forearms. "I am Bellerophon, the guardian of this Cloth. Two hundred years ago, the Pope came to me with a request to protect the Pegasus Cloth and through my astral projection, I have done so ever since."

Lance took a couple of second to process this. Standing before him was the spiritual representation of a mythical hero of Greece? Was this the challenge? "I can't leave this place! Not without that Cloth! What do you want with me? Why can't I have it?" he demanded to know.

Bellerophon folded his arms and looked down on the trainee. He knew the teen's story very well. He had watched him from the moment Saint Kerberos abandoned him. "The Path of the Cloth usually takes six years; you are brave to seek Pegasus' test in just four. What makes you think you deserve it so much and so soon, trainee Lance?" he asked, shocking the teen by knowing his name. "Why should I let you pass?"

Lance narrowed his eyes. Was his character being tested or something? "I have spent four miserable years in this mountain because of it. I have almost died more times than I could count. I've overcome all odds by unlocking my cosmos just for this moment." He recalled. A thin aura of white light started forming around him as he burned his cosmos. "There's no fucking way I'll leave this mountain without it, not after all I've been put through. Get out of my way, you ghost. You're not going to be the one who'll stop me from achieving my objective."

Bellerophon suddenly laughed out loud. "Objective, you say? Do you think you can take the Pegasus Cloth by force just for those reasons?" Bellerophon started emanating a silvery aura of cosmos. Lance didn't answer. "So you're pulling the strong, silent type act, huh? Not something I've seen other Saints of Pegasus do before. And those eyes filled with hatred for being abandoned here on this mountain to die…yes, you're definitely not meant to be protected by Pegasus."

Lance leaped forward with a fist full of cosmos. "Get out of my way!"

Bellerophon unfolded his arms. "I can see that you will not relent no matter what I say. Very well, just for you, I'll unleash a millionth of my power through this projection!" He then also charged forward and cocked his fist.

Both trainee and hero let out a battle cry and let their fists crash against each other, unleashing a powerful vibration and thunderous sound that made the room shake. Lance's teeth gritted in effort as he held his own against the projection, realizing that the 'ghost' was more powerful than he thought. Lance pulled back his fist only to then caught Bellephoron's. The spirit tried to punch him with his other one but it was also caught by Lance's other hand, initiating a power hold between the two.

 

Lance's muscles tensed and he felt his hands being crushed by the hero's fingers, but held his own. Bellerophon smiled. "Good, you got strength." Bellerophon then let go of Lance's hands and rushed his leg forward in a side kick. Lance leaned forward to dodge below it before striking the hero's back with an elbow blow. There was a swift hand swipe that made Lance step back and be placed on the defensive when several other punched followed.

Lance focused his cosmos in his forearms and watched carefully as Bellerophon's fists rushed back and forth. The spirit didn't seem to be fighting seriously. This scared the trainee because he was having a hard time finding an opening, but didn't let himself show it to his foe. He kept his defense up for a while until he detected a punch that was cocked a bit further back by his foe for a heavier blow. Seeing his opening, Lance rushed at him and dodge it with a sidestep while striking the spirit's leg with his foot. Bellerophon widened his eyes and stumbled forward, but Lance's spinning back hand blow struck his stomach to stop his descent. Lance positioned himself carefully, roared loudly and finished his combo with a powerful sidekick that crashed with the spirit's face so hard Bellerophon's body was lifted into the air and floored face first.

Lance panted and stepped back several times. He got lucky and was able to time his blows well; otherwise, the larger foe would have broken his combo. As expected, he watched the astral projection get back on its feet without much effort.

"Good, you got skill, too." complimented the spirit. "But that's not enough, Lance. That just means you'd be a strong warrior. Black Saints are strong, too, you know? Your Master must have told you about them."

Lance stopped panting and narrowed his eyes fiercely. "...I have no master!" he snarled.

Bellerophon took note of the hatred in Lance's voice. He must stop this trainee from becoming a Saint. "He took you under his wing, didn't he? You wouldn't have gotten this strong if it wasn't-"

"Saint Kerberos Kastiel taught me the basics of fighting and surviving and then left me here _to die_. I forged my strength by my own hand, not his!"

"I see. So you hate Kastiel-"

"STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM!" Lance shouted as he crossed the distance between them and struck Bellerophon's blocking wrists with a powerful punch.

The hero brushed off the blow and caught Lance by the throat, paralyzing him with the strength of his grip. Lance's eyes shut tightly with the pain. He grabbed the hero's wrists and punched them repeatedly to try to loosen the grip.

Bellerophon watched him squirm. "Your heart is filled with rage and hatred. You have no desire to be a Saint! You're nothing like Tenma, who wished to save his loved ones. You just want the power of the Pegasus Cloth for yourself! Even if you were to get past me…even if, by some miracle, the Pegasus Cloth would decide to take you under its protection…you would just lead it astray."

Lance's eyes opened up. "T-Tenma?" He looked down on the hero. "Whatever, just shut up and let go of me!"

Instead, Bellerophon pinned Lance harshly against the floor by the throat, still applying pressure to it. "Hmph! Black Saints are traitors. They are scum who turn their back on Athena and use their power and armors for their selfish purposes. Their strength and their skill used to kill rather than protect… take revenge rather than forgive... and one day you would most likely end up a Black Saint. The hatred you have for Kastiel and for the rest of the world ends today." Bellerophon raised is other hand. "You have led a miserable life, trainee Lance. The whole world abandoned you and you don't understand why. But don't worry, the end will be quick. I shall apply 'Athena's Mercy' on you, an execution technique created by Sanctuary, and you shall die a quick, painless death, forgotten inside this cold mountain _forever_." Bellerophon's hand then descended on the Saint to apply the famous execution move.

"NO!" he shouted. His feet burned with white cosmos and struck the hero's chest as hard as he could. Bellerophon screamed, releasing his grip on Lance, and his hand struck the ground instead as Lance rolled away from him.

The trainee didn't give the hero a chance to recover. He leaped towards the taller warrior and struck his face head on with a knee blow that stunned Bellerophon. The hero's cosmos burned to help him pull himself together, but he then felt several punches strike his stomach before a kick sent him crash through a pillar and against a wall.

Bellerophon coughed out blood and tried to get up, feeling his limbs complain with pain. He looked up to Lance and widened his eyes, " _his_ _cosmos_ _!_ "

Lance spread his feet a bit and waved his hands around as he focused loudly and made his white cosmos aura burn around his body, trying to shape the Pegasus Constellation with his hand movements. "Time to finish this!" he shouted as he stopped his hand movements and took his stance. He dragged his left foot forward and aimed his left hand at the hero while his other hand tightened next to his waist. His white aura burned up and filled both his legs and closed fist, encompassing the later in a concentrated orb of transparent energy "TAKE THIS!" he shouted as he suddenly dashed forward at superhuman speed. " **PEGASUS…** "

Bellerophon widened his eyes at the amount of cosmos and the speed Lance was using. "I'll stop you!" his arms then rushed forward to try to catch the trainee.

The enormous acceleration of Lance's movement, however, caused his body to shoot forward like a bullet past Bellerophon' hands. " **…CHARGE FIST!** "

The warrior's eyes opened wide and he screamed as an enormous, concentrated impact struck his chest to hard his whole body got pushed back against the wall by the trainee, crashing with rock and making him vomit blood. The thunderous sound of his back crashing through the mountain's interior resonated throughout the temple and his upper body fell forward on top of Lance's shoulder.

Lance panted, feeling the adult tremble on top of him in pain. He retracted his fist from the spot where he hit his foe, leaving being the bloody imprint of his knuckles. He stumbled back several times and watched as Bellerophon's trembling body dropped to its knees and hands. The Charge Fist was his signature move and it was relatively simple. He merely powered his legs with cosmos to charge straight ahead at his target with an enormous acceleration and hit him with a fist encompassed in a large amount of concentrated cosmos.

The large acceleration and the concentrated shape of the cosmos in his hand caused his punch to strike like a large bullet on his foe, usually being enough to bring down an opponent several times Bellerophon's size. "I'm… getting the Pegasus Cloth. You can't stop me…"

Bellerophon grabbed his stomach in pain. "T-that cosmos… Y-you're very powerful!" he then gasped and coughed out more blood. His body, however, started shining with renewed energy all of a sudden. Lance's eyes opened up in terror as Bellerophon picked himself back up with new strength, his energy suddenly doubling. The warrior looked up at Lance and wiped the blood off his lips with his fist. "You caught me completely by surprise with that move. Very well, I shall now use not one, not two, but _three_ millionths of my power!"

Lance stared at him in shock. "…W-what?!" Bellerophon smirked and charged his aura. Lance suddenly found himself in a shaking temple as his foe's silver aura triple in thickness and size.

"That attack wasn't bad, Lance… But it is just power; brute force that you've applied cosmos into." The hero said his voice with a hint of anger. "It's going to take more than that if you want the Pegasus Cloth! I've been watching over it for a long time and I know how it thinks. What makes you think you can ride the winged horse so easily?"

Lance felt the temple's shaking stop. He sweated nervously but tried to look strong. "You rode it!" Lance argued. "It can't be that hard to convince him to let me take it." Bellerophon ignored Lance and tightened his fists while closing his eyes for a bit. Lance saw his energy increasing once more. " _I have to stop him from charging his energy before he attacks again_ " he thought. He took another stance and attacked first. " **Pegasus** … **Charge Fist**!" His body once more shot forward and he delivered a powerful straight punch to Bellerophon's chest that exploded in light upon impact.

The light faded away and Lance's red eyes widened in horror. His punch seemingly had no effect at all on his foe as he still had his eyes closed and his energy kept on rising. Bellerophon opened his eyes. "This ends now. **Pegasus** … **Meteor Fist**!" he shouted.

Bellerophon's aura suddenly burst into energy, namely meteors of light that struck the screaming trainee, battering all over his body and flooring him. Lance winced in pain on the floor and tried to open his eyes, but only saw a blur. " _W-what? What was that?_ " He tried to get up, but started to cough out blood before he even got on his knee. " _He didn't even move his fists_ _;_ _he just released his energy… I couldn't even analyze the technique._ "

A foot suddenly stepped next to him. " **Pegasus Meteor Fist.** " Lance didn't even have time to react. He just saw light fill his vision and countless punches struck his body once more. The screaming Saint crashed against the floor once more. Bellerophon calmly walked towards him. " **Pegasus Meteor FIST**!" The floor Lance was lying on suddenly exploded into energy that shot him against the ceiling. Lance crashed against it before his body fell down. Before he even hit the floor, Bellerophon cocked back his punch. "I won't let you become a Saint. **PEGASUS METEOR FIST**!"

Before Lance even hit the ground, he got run over by the fourth barrage of punches of light that sent him spinning through the air, bruising his body all over. Limp like a corpse, he crashed on the floor and slide through it until reaching the edge of the abyss that the Pegasus platform stood over. His hand hanged over the massive hole. Lance's exhausted eyes opened up a bit and saw only darkness at the bottom before they closed again.

Bellerophon saw Lance seemingly lose consciousness. "I'm impressed. Just three barrages of the meteor fists should have been enough to kill you, but you survived _four_. But now, all it takes is a little push to send you over the edge. Good bye!" His aura flared up. "Wait, what?!" Bellephoron widened his eyes in shock. He saw Lance's body tremble in pain as it tried to move. "You can still move?!"

Lance felt his world shaking and his body screaming in pain in countless spots. He felt like every bone in his body was broken He tried to breathe deeply, but it hurt. His red eyes offered his foe a menacing glare that frightened Bellerophon. He stepped away from the abyss and faced him. "I-I'm not giving up!" he muttered.

Bellerophon's jaw dropped. "Impressive. I have to say, I just keep underestimating your energy." His eyes then spot light flashing around the Pegasus Cloth Box. " _Pegasus, are you reacting to his effort?_ "

Lance tried to burn his cosmos. It eased his pain and helped him stand up with a little more dignity, but he was having a hard time concentrating. Bellerophon was striking so hard and so fast with his meteor fist that Lance couldn't even analyze it right.

"Why are you getting back up again?" asked Bellerophon. "Why don't you just give up?"

Lance grabbed his right arm, which was in particularly harsh pain. He thought about the four years he spent in that mountain and felt his eyes well up. "Because if I don't take that Cloth with me, this would have all have been for nothing!"

Bellerophon wasn't convinced. "Lance, you don't understand, do you? Your path is filled with resentment and bitterness. I'm sure that the first thing you'd do with that cloth would be using it to exact some sort of revenge. You'd live your life with violence and with violence thrown back at you as an answer by the world." He preached. He then looked once more at the Box behind Lance. "But Pegasus is different from you. Though he was born from violence, he wishes nothing like that. He'll only bow to the will of someone whose heart is as light as his feathers and whose ambition is clear and just. But your heart is heavy with anger and confusion. If you doubt me, then ask yourself this; what do you really want with it? Where do you want his wings to take you?"

Lance's eyes tried to stare at the warrior, but he saw several of him so he couldn't really focus. "I w-was dragged into Sanctuary by a S-Silver Saint I never even saw again. Athena, your Holy Wars and your ideals of justice and love; I don't care about any of it." He confessed. "I d-don't know what I want to do with my life, but I swear that no matter what, for all the shit you people put me through, I'm taking that Cloth and getting the fuck away from Sanctuary!"

Bellerophon shook his head in exasperation. "You're hopeless." He berated. The hero felt worried about Pegasus' flashing and decided to finish the trainee. "This time, you'll fall over the abyss for good. **Pegasus Meteor FIST**!" His aura once more exploded into countless meteors of light without his body even moving an inch.

Lance's red eyes saw the meteors rushing against him. He could barely move so an elaborate dodge wasn't an option and it was equally insane to attempt to block all those powerful punches in the state he was. He tightened his fists in determination. There was no way he'd give up.

His hand rushed forward. " **Pegasus Charge FIST**!" he attempted to shout. His closed hand crashed with the barrage of light in a desperate attempt to run through it, but something then rushed over his shoulder and crashed with the attack. An explosion of light followed and Lance's senses were taken out by the shock. His body fell forward, unconscious.

Bellerophon lowered the intensity of his cosmos and watched as the Cloth Box floated above the unconscious trainee. He groaned. The Cloth Box rested on the ground next to Lance. " _Stop it, Bellephoron, you've done enough!"_

The hero groaned. What was the steed doing now? "Pegasus, why do you choose to protect this trainee?!" he demanded to know. His hand swept to the side. "He doesn't deserve to wear you. He'll lead himself to the path of Black Sainthood and drag you with him unless you abandon him. Do you wish that for yourself?!" he confronted. "As your Saint, he's destined only to bring destruction to Sanctuary when you're meant for such higher things! You know that!"

Pegasus' voice hesitated. " _Yes, I do, but-_ "

"Have you forgotten Tenma? Have you forgotten everything he sacrificed himself for?" Bellerophon interrupted him. "Have you forgotten that you are destined to stop Hades with his help?!"

Pegasus hesitated to answer. " _No, of course not… I will never forget Tenma._ "

"Then why do you disrespect his sacrifice so much by replacing him with this… child?!" shouted the hero.

Once more, the Cloth Box took a pause before answering. " _He's strong, isn't he? I'm sure he can become a great Saint._ " said Pegasus, referring to Lance. " _Deep inside all his anger, I think I see a good light. I know he can change his path to something grander, something better. Lance had it unfair. All he needs is a good person to guide him._ "

Bellerophon sighed. "And who is that person, you?" he asked, but the Bronze Cloth did not answer. "From the moment you leave this temple, I will not be there to protect you, but if you mean your words, then I cannot stop you."

Inside its box, the Pegasus helmet raised a bit in surprise. " _Bellerophon, are you accepting my choice?_ "

The hero folded his arms and stared at the unconscious trainee. He closed his eyes. "I sense something already watching over him, something filled with hatred bigger than his. If you take him under your protection, you'll be declaring war to that evil, too." he reminded Pegasus, but the Cloth didn't seem moved by this. "Fine, Pegasus, I accept your choice. From this moment forth, may your constellation watch over his fate." He then started fading away. His blue eyes looked down on the trainee. "Farewell, _Saint_ Lance, and remember, one day, I _will_ be proven right… and you'll once again feel the full wrath of an Olympian warrior!"

The Pegasus Cloth watched as the astral projection of Bellerophon completely disappeared in the darkness. Its box opened up, allowing the metallic horse statue to move freely. Its horse head helmet tapped its nose on Lance's body, which didn't react. Pegasus' white, light-elemental cosmos burned and illuminated the temple. Its shutting down mechanism would soon activate, sealing the temple until the next candidate came along. Lance would soon be locked inside that place for years.

It was time for its first act as Lance's new Cloth.

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Several hours later, right outside the temple, Lance's body shook in cold. He started waking up from his deep sleep and realized he had his body pressed on top of cold pebbles and rocks. He slowly managed to get on his knees and rubbed his eyes. "What happened?" he asked himself.

Flashes of his fight with Bellerophon in his memory sent his body into full alert. He quickly stood up and got on his guard. However, it didn't take him long to lower it as he realized he was standing outside the temple. Lance relaxed, confused, and turned around to see, in shock that none other than the Pegasus Cloth Box was on the ground before him.

Lance froze completely before the object. What was going on? Why he was outside and why was the Pegasus Cloth before him? Had he won? Had his desperate attempt to attack the warrior miraculously paid off? Lance's trembling hand slowly grabbed the Cloth's handle, fearful that it would just fly off at his very touch.

But it didn't! Lance's fingers were able to grasp the handle that the Pegasus' head engraving was biting on and, rather than react violently or escaping, the Box instead started emanating a white aura of energy that started syncing with his. Lance gulped, took a deep breath and pulled it once and for all.

There was the sound of rattling metal as Lance pulled the chain. When it became tense, the Box opened up, dropping all its sides on the ground and revealing a shining metal statue of a white, winged horse with red outlines on its hind legs and chest parts.

One-by-one, the pieces started donning themselves to Lance's body, first the greaves, then the gauntlets, the shoulder, chest and hip protections and finally the helmet. It was done. He was a Saint of Bronze. He was Pegasus Lance! Lance felt his cosmos being amplified by the cloth and his mouth became agape in shock.

"A-am I dreaming? Is this a dream?!" He spent a few moments analyzing himself. The horse-head helmet looked a little silly and his chest was barely protected, but he liked the greaves and forearm protections very much. He punched the air a few times, testing his flexibility. "This is so great! I feel incredible." he thought, grinning. Lance laughed gleefully, barely containing his excitement. He felt like jumping in the air and shouting his head off as happy as he was!

But, as Lance's excitement calmed down, he started smirking devilishly. There was one person he would like to share all of this with and he couldn't wait to see the priceless look on that person's face as he walked inside Sanctuary with his Cloth of Bronze. In fact, he couldn't wait to see the look on that person's face when he punches him in front of everyone.

Lance's eyes then looked around and realized that the snow that had filled the ground seemed to have cleared away in a perfect circle around him. "Strange… did the Cloth do this?" he then looked at the Pegasus Temple, which was still seemed to be sealed up. " _And did it get me out of it, too, or was it Bellerophon?_ "

Not counting on ever seeing the spirit again, Lance shrugged off these thoughts and headed off. Having formed plans to settle his matters with Sanctuary and leave it as soon as he was done, Lance, the Bronze Saint of Pegasus, smirked and walked off the Temple, never looking back to the placed that tortured him for four long years.

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**Present time, two years later (1976), in Sanctuary Town**

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Andromeda Shinta happily sucked on the straw until he felt the delicious orange soda Lance bought him go down his throat. He walked along Pegasus' side as they headed back to the Golden Zodiac to wait by the Aries Temple for news on the meeting. Shinta watched as Lance kept looking at the ground, hands in pockets, seemingly lost in thoughts.

Shinta smiled, wondering if Lance was thinking deeply about something in silence. He did that a lot. "Hey, Lance, what's wrong?" muttered Shinta, snapping his fingers. "Are you worried about the meeting?"

Lance awakened from his trance, suddenly reminding himself of reality. He blinked his eyes twice, surprised. "Sorry...I was thinking about something." Lance excused himself.

Considering the most likely topics being talked about in the reunion, Shinta made his own conclusions. "Were you thinking about, you know, your Training Ground?" he saw Lance's red eyes lock intensely with his. Shinta whimpered and step back. "I-I'm sorry! I know you don't like talking about it or Kas- Oops!" Shinta covered his mouth.

Lance chuckled a bit. "...Relax, Shinta, I'm not going to get angry with you over that. Yeah, I was thinking about Mount Olympus and how the Gold Saints are probably discussing it."

Shinta sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I'm sorry I mentioned it," he insisted on apologizing. Ever since they met, Mount Olympus and Saint Kastiel, both which Shinta had never been in contact with, had always been a big taboo around Lance. Talking about it too much would only get Lance really angry at you. Shinta understood that the two of them had completely different Masters and training experiences, so he respected Lance's desire to not talk about it, even if he sometimes accidentally mentioned it. To make things worse, there was Lance's cryophobia to consider, which only made Lance thinking about his snowy Training Ground even worse. "It must have been really terri-"

"Stop talking about it, already!" Lance instantly interrupted him.

Shinta instantly cowered from Lance's wrath. Maybe he really shouldn't have tried to make him say something about it. That was in the past and Lance wanted to forget about it. Shinta shouldn't have tried to make him bring it up. Right now, they were there to see if Lance would become a Saint of Silver.

It was then that it really hit him. Lance was actually moving up in rank. Sure, it was still being discussed, but Shinta was sure Lance would pass with flying colors. What was really worrying him was something else. "Lance?" mumbled Shinta.

"...Yes?"

"Do you think," Shinta hesitated " ...do you think I can become a Silver Rank just like you and my master?"

"Probably, if you train hard enough."

Shinta's eyes and smile both widened. "You really think so? Thank you, Lance! But..."

"What is it?"

"Now that you're going to become a Silver Saint, you're not going to...you're not going to stop hanging out with me and become all distant, are you?"

Lance opened his eyes, not because of what Shinta said, but because he spotted something. "Don't be stupid, Shinta!" His hand then halted Shinta by the chest. His eyes narrowed and he pointed at the trees of the woods west of the Golden Zodiac. "Hey, look, Shinta! Isn't that the Papal Guard?"

Shinta looked at the direction Lance was pointing and, indeed, he spotted a small foot soldier division silently marching among the trees. They carried halberds rather than spears and their shields had the Pope's winged mask drawn on them. "You mean the foot soldier division that guards the thirteenth temple? Yeah, I think so." He then saw Lance rush into the woods and stalk them. "Wait!" he asked, following him. "Where are you going?"

" _Be quiet, Shinta!_ " Lance said through a mental message via 6th sense, a common communication technique among Sanctuary dwellers. " _Look!_ "

Shinta stood right next to Lance among the trees and watched in shock as the captain of the division took a key and slid it through a small, inconspicuous crack on a rock. A boulder resting against the Golden Zodiac's mountain side of the forest moved away, revealing an entrance to the mountain's carved out cavern. Shinta's jaw dropped. "Lance, look! They're walking inside the mountain! What is that?"

Lance smirked, receiving confirmation of a rumor that has circulated in Sanctuary for ages. "It looks like we just found out a shortcut around the Aries Temple! Come on, Shinta, let's follow them!"

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**Chapter End**

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 **Next Chapter** : Kastiel

 **Description:** The Cloth of Pegasus returns to Sanctuary after over 200 years of absence and after four years of training, Lance confronts his would be Master.

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_Author's Note: The original second chapter from the first version was approximately 5000 words long and was…uninspired. There really wasn't much to the Pegasus' Cloth test other than a fight that Lance, in both the first and second version, ended up winning. While the third version, this version, doesn't make it exactly into an Indiana Jones flick, I think I managed to give the Pegasus Temple a lot more depth when compared to its initial simplicity. The character of Bellerophon has also undergone a revamp. Various aspects of him have been changed as, in the first and second version, he was little more than a weak spirit tied to the Pegasus Temple and a rather poor fighter._

_The reasons to these…limitations in the situation, the location and the obstacles in Lance's path are there because, quite simply, I never intended to go beyond said limitations. I never planned for there to be anything special or foreboding about Lance's conclusion to the Path of the Cloth. I never intended to give any further use to Bellerophon or ever return to the plot to Mount Olympus again. Things have changed, though. It's been three years and a lot of re-planning and changing of mind._

_So, hopefully, Lance's obtaining of the Pegasus Cloth is far more entertaining in this version._

_Finally, making Lance a Saint of Pegasus was originally a choice I made almost randomly. In the original script, it wasn't important which Bronze Cloth he got, but which Gold one and, for those who have read the second version, a certain special armor of folklore. In the meantime, with the publishing of Lost Canvas and my own growth as a writer, I suppose Lance being a Pegasus Saint protagonist took on a deeper meaning almost on its own._


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